


Midsummer Prayer

by Zdenka



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, Númenor, Second Age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-22
Updated: 2014-09-22
Packaged: 2018-02-18 09:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2344022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zdenka/pseuds/Zdenka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Míriel keeps Erulaitalë as best she can. (Fixed-length ficlet.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midsummer Prayer

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the September 2014 challenge at lotr_community, for the prompt "celebrate" and the element: _The late afternoon was bright and peaceful. The flowers glowed red and golden: snap-dragons and sun-flowers, and nasturtiums trailing all over the turf walls and peeping in at the round windows._ ( _The Fellowship of the Ring_ , "A Long-Expected Party")

“Kharun,” the queen says, “pick me some flowers.”

It is midsummer, and the gardens of Armenelos shine in the late afternoon sunlight. Her youngest handmaid cheerfully runs back and forth, returning at last with bright eyes and wind-tossed hair and her hands full of red and golden flowers, large sunflowers incongruously mixed with more delicate blossoms.

Míriel gently clasps the flowers and stands facing Meneltarma. In utter silence, barely moving her lips, the Queen of Númenor recites the Erulaitalë prayer of praise. She does not know if she believes the words; her heart is empty and her spirit is weighed down with grief and fear. But she is queen, and this is her duty.

She waits, looking toward the distant mountain. No sign of an eagle; not even a songbird flashing through the trees. She turns away.

“Come,” she says, “let us go in.”

**Author's Note:**

> Erulaitalë, the Númenórean midsummer festival, was one of three times in the year when the King (or Queen) of Númenor traditionally ascended the sacred mountain Meneltarma and spoke aloud in prayer.
> 
> As required by the challenge, the ficlet is 144 words long in honor of Bilbo and Frodo's birthday.


End file.
